


ICE MASK.

by neobranded



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (kinda?), Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Attempt at Humor, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sarcasm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26338357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neobranded/pseuds/neobranded
Summary: Sometimes you have to look at the person without a mask the public has created for them. Mark learns that the hard way, when he has to work with acoldandrudemodel - Na Jaemin.orMarkmin model/fashion au that no one asked for.on hold at the moment <3
Relationships: Mark Lee/Na Jaemin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 42





	1. agreements.

_**"when you can distinguish the difference between azure, teal and aquamarine, you can give yourself a pat on the back for minimal eye for detail."** _

* * *

The moment his manager walked into the room, Mark knew he was in for a headache-inducing conversation about a dreaded schedule of his. He conveys his annoyance by groaning out loud and slumping back in the leather couch, however, his manager was having none of it.

"No. You're not getting out of this talk today Mark Lee." his manager sits on the couch positioned across the one mark is lounging on. He drops some papers on the glass coffee table between them and places his index finger on the stack, looking at Mark pointedly. "You're going to look over these _right now_ and sign the papers."

"Yuta hyung, come on!" Mark whines childishly, kicking the air and squirming on the couch. It didn't amuse his manager who was used to him acting like a kid. When he saw his tantrum wasn't working, he tried reasoning with the other. "Look, I already _know_ what those papers say, okay? My answer still remains! I don't want any collab shoots!" he exclaims, hoping his hyung would understand. Yuta sighs, but stays firm on his ground.

"You're being uncooperative, you know that right?" he points at the young man "Are you really going to risk your and agency's public view and reputation?" receiving no answer from Mark, he continues. "Listen. This isn't just _some_ random agency, okay? DREAM agency is an upcoming giant and I can _feel_ it. Next year, at this time, they'll be _monstrous_ , mark my words." he says and now, Mark is paying more attention.

"What do you mean?" the model asks. Sure, the DREAM agency was getting popular, but Yuta freaking over it like this... there had to be more to it.

"What I _mean_ is that they're increasing their domain alarmingly fast. Name me the models that caught your eye this month." Yuta leans on his knees by his elbows and waits for Mark to answer.

Mark starts talking before he can even process it. "Lee Donghyuck, Park Jisung, Kim Yeri, Kang Seulgi..." his vioce trails off to silence when it dawns on him.

"Precisely!" his manager exclaims and jumps back into his original sitting position. "Their models are now seen on _every_ magazine, photoshoot and journal! Did you know one of them is now one of the ambassadors of Chanel Korea while being a newbie model?"

"But hyung!" Mark gave his final attempt to protest. "127 agency also stays on every magazine and photoshoot! Why do we need collaboration shoots?"

Yuta waved his hand in dismissal "What I'm saying is, we need to be on their good side if we want to stay in the spotlight in the future too. Besides..." he looks back at the papers "You don't even know who you're modeling with! Maybe you'll like them!" Mark eyed the papers too and thought it over. Maybe he could work with the cheerful Zhong Chenle, or chatty Son Wendy.

He sighs, defeated "I'll look them over."

His manager smiles, accomplished and gets up. "Good. I'll go check your schedules and be right back. Do you want anything?" he asks, knowing what Mark would say.

"I want a pack of strawberry mochi, from that corner pastry place, forgot what it's called" he pointed a finger in Yuta's direction "They better be soft and squishy, hyung!" his manager laughs and nods, as he always does at Mark's empty threats.

* * *

* * *

  
"You can't _possibly_ be serious!- What's your name?" he looks at the nametag on the girl's folder. _Jung Haseul_. "Haseul, you have exactly _5 seconds_ to get out of my hair or I'll-" Renjun's voice was getting louder the more he spoke, his yelling bouncing off the glass corridor he was in.

"I - I'm sorry, Renjun-ssi, but I was only told to deliver this information, I - I can't do anything about it..." the girl looked younger than him and shy, a newbie, probably. Definitely not cut out for the monster that was the modeling and fashion industry. (Not yet, anyway.)

Renjun pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes to calm himself down. "Fine, just send me the details on email so I can look them over." he says and the girl nods eagerly. He waves her away and watches for a couple of seconds as the girl quickly runs towards the elevator, her flat shoes barely making a sound. Renjun draws attention to the footwear. _Cole Haan Tali Ballet flats. Classic._

He starts walking to his office, where he was originally going. Assistants are running everywhere, left and right. Some almost running into him and making him drop his coffee. (Which would be a game over for the poor soul who would be the victim for Huang Renjun's 10am wrath).

He finally reaches his destination and pushes in the tinted glass door. He throws the empty paper cup in the trash bin and slumps down on his swivel chair, letting out a relieved sigh. He's about to drift off a little bit, when-

_"Injunnie! Did you get my text?!"_

Renjun groans loudly. "Do you have a radar for when I'm about to rest, Jaemin? Ever heard of knocking?" he glares, but the intruder pays him no mind as he sits (read: dives) down on the armchair in the corner.

"Well? Did you?" Jaemin insists on his previous question. Renjun sighs and slides out his phone from his pocket, checking it for any unread texts. Sure enough, there's a message from the guy currently in his office.

__**_annoying rabbit_**  
_ _ __ > _injunnie !! i heard the photoshoot is getting rescheduled !!_  
> _omg is it true ??__ _

The following message was just obscenely saturated sticker, Jaemin style.

He hums "I have now. I don't know for sure yet, but yeah, most likely we have to reschedule it later this month." Jaemin groans, pulling his long legs up to rest them of the coffee table in from of him.

"Why are they being so difficult, ugh-" he emphasized his frustration by crossing his arms over his chest.

Renjun arched a brow and stared Jaemin down before the model pulled his feet down from his manager's pristine clean furniture. "If I have to remind you, Na Jaemin, we're talking about 127 modeling agency. The 127 agency. One of the big pillars of the modeling industry? If we want to be a successful agency, we have to be on their good side. Friendly, even." he nodded, almost as if he was assuring himself. "We have to be patient. I asked Haseul, the new assistant, to send me the emails. I'm gonna check if she has sent it yet."

He types in the password in the lane and opens his email on his laptop. He clicks on the link Haseul has attached and, to his delight, there is an email from **127corporations@email.com**.

As Renjun started to read through the over-polite email, Jaemin grew restless in his seat, leaning over and watching the running assistants from the narrow window, until he's bored of that as well and leans onto the opposite side and starts fiddling with the leaves of a Monstera plant standing nearby.

"They said-" Renjun finally speaks, beaming with excitement. "-They can manage on October 29th!" he exclaims.

Jaemin rolls his eyes "Unlucky number" he mumbles.

"Don't be picky" Renjun reprimands "You have to be at your best behavior, hear me, Na Jaemin?" he warns, narrowing his eyes. He waits for Jaemin's acceptance by giving him a stare that he knows burns holes in everyone's souls.

When Jaemin glances back to Renjun for a split second, sighing when he realized his situation. "Fine. I'll look over the papers, bla bla-" he stands up and makes his way out of the office with no further sound.  
  


* * *

* * *

  
"No." is the first work Mark says when he sees his manager entering his room after half an hour with a pastel purple package in his hand, decorated with a cursive writing only fancy pastries and cafes insist on having.

Yuta rolls his eyes. "What? What is it this time?"

Mark picks up one of the papers (that are now scattered _everywhere_. on the table, couches, the carpeted floor...) and pulls it so close to Yuta's face, he has to lean his head back to even see what's on it. It's the page where the model profiles are usually written. When Yuta sees who exactly is on there, he lets out a knowing sigh, already ready for Mark to freak out. He pushes away the disorganized papers from the table and puts down the package, opening it instantly.

"Hyung! Come on! _Him ?!_ _Really?!_ " as the model is about to go on a tangent, his words die in his throat when a mochi bun is shoved in his mouth. He mumbles something unintelligible and grabs the squishy snack to bite it properly.

"It's not that bad!" Yuta assures "It's Na Jaemin! He's great, he's just a..." he looks for the word that would push Mark into accepting this collaboration willingly.

"Snob." Mark finishes with a scoff and finishes his first bun of mochi, leaning over to grab another one from the open package and taking a big bite. His manager rolls his eyes.

"You're just saying that because you don't want to do the photoshoot." he says, knowing very well it would get Mark riled up. The younger widens his eyes and raises his brows, unable to say anything for a moment until he chewed and swallowed his food.

"No hyung! Really! Can't we request someone else?" he gestures at Jaemin's portfolio page and furrows his brows. "Have you seen his resting bitch face? His fans call him the ice prince, for god's sake!" he exclaims, scandalous. Yet, Yuta pays him no mind anymore.

"Yeah well, you're gonna have to suck it up, buttercup. The photoshoot is already scheduled on October 29th." before Mark can start his over-dramatics, he continues. "Stop acting like a spoiled brat and just get it over with! It's only _one_ campaign!"

And so, the young model frustrated, grabs a pen from the office table and signs the paper at the very bottom of the (still intact) stack. He presses it so hard Yuta fears the paper might tear.

"See? You're slowly maturing!" Yuta quips, earning him a well-deserved glare.  
  


* * *

* * *

__**_  
127corporations@email.com_** _ _

___Hello._ _ _

___127 Corporations have considered the offer and we happily accept it. We hope the date that we provided is suitable for DREAM Corprations. We priositise our models' comfortability and health, we guess that your agency has similar priorities. The date has been carefully chosen, as well as any onset staff and environment. If you have any other questions, email us back. Other than that, I we wish for this campaign to go smoothly and result in success._  
 ** _\- 127 Corp._**_ _

_**_dreamcorporations@email.com_ ** _

_Hello._

_DREAM Corporation is thrilled to hear your acceptance of this offer. We too, prioritise our models' and workers' health and comfortability. We're positive that there will be no issues onset of the photoshoots. The campaign overall is most likely to go down without a hitch. October 29th is very much, a suitable date. We wish all the good things to go on for both of us._   
**_\- DREAM Corp._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!  
> are you here from twitter?~  
> well, happy reading from now on! this is basically an introduction chapter, so it's going to get way more active from now on! get ready, dear reader! <3
> 
> i will post some of my favorite photos in the themes of fashion here, hope it's not annoying anyone ^^; here's my twitter! **@neobranded**


	2. dusting rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He's pretty stylish"
> 
>   
>  "He's pretty pretentious. What's the use of dressing up when they're gonna dress you up differently anyway?" Mark scoffs and finishes his snack, throwing the empty wrapping into a nearby trash bin. He keeps eyeing Jaemin, who is now surrounded by stylists, managers and makeup artists, who are probably talking his ear off already. Deserved. Mark grins to himself.

Today is terrible.

He had slept in, missed his breakfast, scorched his tongue with the coffee he grabbed from a nearby shop and realised, he had left his charger at home. On top of that, he was painfully under-dressed for the cold autumn weather. God, he just wanted to get this shoot over with, go home and binge watch some corny, cliche kdrama that will probably keep him up the whole night. 

"Mark you're finally here- The hell happened to you?" he hears as soon as he walks out the elevator on the 10th floor.

"Johnny hyung, please tell me stylist noonas have some snacks" he pleads as he makes his way to the group of stylists already waiting. The older of the two laughs "What? Did you *get up on your left foot?" he can't help but ruffle Mark's peacock hair with an adoring smile as the other accepts the granola bar . "Did your scheduled eating end already?"

Mark whined "It _should_ be, but this collaboration came up suddenly and now I'll probably be put on a stricter one!" he almost tears up, thinking of when he could order in pizza, sushi, tteoboki, hot pot, eat it and not worry about being measured next day with a bloated stomach. Oh, the good days. These days, he can only do that on holidays and some days where he doesn't have any shoot schedules coming up.

Johnny looks around throughoutly, even leaning back to observe the whole room. "Where's your partner?" he asks Mark, who shrugs and rolls his eyes. He quickly chews on the bite and begins talking with dramatic hand motions. 

"It's only the first photoshoot and he's already late! _Ugh!_ " Johnny laughs at the younger's dramatisation. 

"Don't be so pissy, he'll probably come soon. Maybe he also has a bad morning like you? Have some empathy Mark!" at that, Mark _does_ think a bit. Maybe he's being way too harsh on someone he doesn't even know. He knows public can twist the image of someone very easily. Maybe he should give Jaemin a chance. "Maybe he's just a-" Mark quietly mumbles to himself before the elevator doors slide open.

In the elevator, was Na Jaemin. Wearing simple black dress pants, white high neck blouse, inspector shoes, put together with a dark grey wool crepe coat from Chanel's new fall-winter collection. Dior's Oblique embroidered saddle bag swung from across his right shoulder to his left hip. All topped with the Moscot's Dudel sunglasses. 

He walks out of the elevator like he owns the place. Like the sun rises upon his wake and sets upon his departure to dreamland. Like everyone should bow down just for being graced by his presence. Mark feels annoyance bubble slowly into irritation and to anger. The feeling intensifies when Jaemin takes off his glasses and observes the set and everyone on there. Not once, does he look Mark's way.

"A snob." Mark finishes his sentence and Johnny hums.

"He's pretty stylish"

"He's pretty _pretentious._ What's the use of dressing up when they're gonna dress you up differently anyway?" Mark scoffs and finishes his snack, throwing the empty wrapping into a nearby trash bin. He keeps eyeing Jaemin, who is now surrounded by stylists, managers and makeup artists, who are probably talking his ear off already. _Deserved._ Mark grins to himself.

Johnny looks at him with a teasing smile "Maybe because he didn't want to show up with a pyjama shirt and sweatpants- are you even wearing socks under there?" he laughs and Mark glares at him, with no real malicious intent. "Just go along with it! Have fun! I'm gonna be on set in half an hour down on the 8th floor. You know how to get me" and with that, Johnny waves and slowly makes his way into the elevator and down to his destination.

Mark doesn't even have time to roll his eyes before stylists call him over. 

When they're finally dressed and now sitting in front of the long vanities, getting their makeup done, Mark feels himself boil with anger.

Jaemin leans back on his chair, facing the young assistant who was on his tippy toes ever since the DREAM model arrived. "Could you get me a coffee> Iced, 3 shots of esspresso, lot of sugar, with _very_ good visual execution and a thick, clear colored straw." he quickly explains, barely giving the boy enough time to jot it down mentally and run off.

The word _'snob'_ keeps running in Mark's mind. He grabs his phone and taps the messenger app open.

**  
marker**

_ > nope not changing my mind_  
_ >he's even more of a bitch than i expected._

**bruce lee**

_> don't be like that come on  
> have you even talked to him yet?_

_  
_ It began fairly normal. Skin preparations, (removing the already there makeup, in Jaemin's case), etc. That was, until Jaemin began ( _rudely,_ Mark might add) correcting the makeup artist on every little thing she did, not even bothering to be polite or warm about it. 

"Blend this better and upwards."  
  


"This part needs more shimmer, or it will look dull."  
  


"The left eye liner is uneven to the right one."  
  


"The lip color is lackluster. No flare whatsoever."

  
And many other things. Mark's all-day conclusion of Jaemin being a downright rude, snobby, better-than-you attittude infected, branded bitch, was proved to be true, it seemed. But at one point, it hit Mark's patience's breaking point. It was just before they were finished with their makeup.

"Close your eyes please!" the makeup artists warns Jaemin, holding up a setting spray bottle to his face. Jaemin raises a perfect arching brow at her.  
  


"Is it with coconut oil?"

"Y-yes..?"

"Then of course not! It clogs the pores, collects dirt and dust and irritates the skin upon removal! Should you not know this?!" he exclaims, bewildered, not even bothering with honorifics all the while. The makeup artist looks on the verge of crying. Mark has had enough. 

Instead of shouting, yelling at Jaemin like he wanted to, he took on a cold, firm tone and calmly addressed the younger model. "Please, settle down so we can do this job fast, _Jaemin-ssi._ "

Even though Mark was looking ahead in the mirror, he could see the shocked expression Jaemin was giving him through the reflection. When he _does_ look over, Jaemin's brows furrow and eyes narrow. His lips drop down to a frown and it looks like he's about to argue, when they hear "Mark-ssi, Jaemin-ssi, to the set please!"

With a condescending smile, Mark gets down from his chair and follows his directions. Delighted that he affected the empiric reign of one-and-only Na Jaemin. "Good luck, Jaemin-ssi!"

* * *

_**Dior Oblique Embroidered gray saddle bag**_

_**Moscot Dudel Sun sunglasses**_

_**CHANEL Wool Crepe gray coat**_

* * *

  
No matter how grumpy and pissy Mark was over Jaemin's pretentiousness, he had to admit, younger model had talent. The photographers, the directors, the designers, they all loved him. His face fit every type of pose and concept they threw at him every 2 minutes. While Mark had to take a moment to collect himself from one expression to the next, Jaemin managed to do in a millisecond. He had overflowing potential, that's for sure.

Too bad his foul mouth is on the forefront in Mark's vision.

The younger model called over an assistant with a hushed tone, soon, the assistant scrambled to request a break. Mark barely resisted to roll his eyes as he made his way to his bag that was on the couch nearby. He rummages through it for his phone and immediately checks his messages, in hopes that Yuta will be coming soon and taking him away already.

Even though his senior manager should be with him all the time, Yuta had an urgent business to deal with so, Mark could understand. But his heart leaped in joy when he saw a message, along the lines of _**'i'll be there soon'**_ from the messenger ID _'tiger hyung'._ His happiness doesn't last long, a voice reached his ears that he's dreading to hear the whole day.

"I left my bag here." said Jaemin, his coffee in hand and the other hand holding a small electric fan. The resting bitch face wasn't helping the situation. 

"Uh, sorry. Haven't seen it." what was Mark supposed to say anyway? He really hadn't seen where he put his designer bag, so he's not lying. Though, even if he had a slight idea, he'd let Jaemin look for it himself.   
  


"It was here an hour ago."   
  


"Yeah well, it isn't anymore."  
  


"And you haven't seen it?"

  
Mark sighs, visibly annoyed. "Why would I hide your bag? If it's not here, go look somewhere else." not wanting to deal with anymore bullshit from him, Mark takes his phone and makes his way towards the styling area, where stylists and designers gossiped about the models and directors alike, knowing he'd see a familiar face there. He's fortunately proven true and rushes towards the chosen person.

"Sunmi noona!" the woman turns around and her face blooms with a smile. She's wearing a long, floral half-transparent raincoat she designed for Simone Rocha for the fall collection, her pants and inside sweater aren't visible, but the black boots that are peeking out at the bottom of the coat still have raindrops on them. Even though she seems to be happy about seeing him, she hold up a hand to keep him away. "Hold on! My coat is wet, I _just_ arrived here!" she sets her pouch bag down on one of the vanity chairs and pulls onto one of the coat's belt ends. She swiftly removes it and slings it over the chair's back.

"It's raining?..." Mark mumbles as he looks out of the window. Sure enough, thin downpour of rain greets today's October.

"Well?" his attention snaps towards Sunmi again, who has now swung a friendly arm around his shoulder, ruffling his hair like a kid. "What have you been up to? I haven't seen you for a _whole_ season!" she holds up an accusatory index finger at him and narrows her eyes "Have you been dating anyone, kid? Have you found your *other Twix yet? You know I won't forgive you for not even sending a *kkt message!" she exclaims and Mark already feels laughter bubbling up. Sunmi noona always knows how to make him feel better. He shakes his head and denies the allegations.

"Nope! Still single. Besides, wouldn't you be the one hearing it first? Who would I go to for dating advice?" he tries to reason and she raises a brow. Mark is confused for a second until he sheepishly laughs "You're right, Ten hyung. But I would also come to you! I'm hopeless enough you would need to work together. Like team rocket!" Mark wouldn't miss a chance for a pokemon reference if it killed him. Sunmi laughs to her heart's content. 

They keep happily chatting until the director calls Mark over towards the set for touch-up before they resume the shoot. Sunmi hums "You're shooting with Na Jaemin right? He's handsome" Mark can't stop the pout that forms on his face and avert his eyes towards the floor, like a little kid would. He can't help it! His noona dotes on him so much, he felt jealousy swirl in him. He murmurs "I'm handsome too..."

To that, Sunmi laughs again and pulls onto Mark's cheek adoringly. "Come on now! Don't sulk! You're still my number one handsome boy!" she pats him on the back "Tell you what, you go finish your job and we can go get coffee tomorrow, on this time? Or are you busy?" the younger shakes his head "Good! I wanna get that new gradient matcha cake roll from the cafe down this street! You know, Purple Mint it's called?"  
  


* * *

**_SIMONE ROCHA floral raincoat_ **

* * *

  
Mark doesn't attempt to hide his eagerness to get out after he changes back to his clothes and doesn't even bother to remove makeup. He grabs his back and scurries off towards the exit. He thinks he hears some kind of 'clank' sound come from behind, but doesn't stop to know what it is. He just wants to get out of here as quick as possible. He rushes through the twin doors and out to the porch of the building. The rain is pouring, but he's not worried. He fishes his phone out and dials Yuta's number.

"Yuta hyung, will you be here soon- oh wait I see your car! I'm outside the building!" He stretches his hand up and waves so his manager can see him. 

As he's about to go down the couple of stairs when the car stop in front of them, he feels a tap on his shoulder. When he turns around, he is more than shocked to find Jaemin standing there, face impassive. Mark suppresses a sigh and raises a brow "If this is about your bag again, I told you I haven't seen-"

"You dropped your charger." 

"Huh?" he looks down between them, seeing his charger in Jaemin's outstretched hand. He sputters at his words. He's surprised and embarrassed. Was Jaemin being nice? Did Mark just misunderstand him back there? Maybe he was just having a bad day, happens to everyone. "Uh.. thanks" he accepts it and puts it back into his bag. An apology about his immature behavior is at the tip of his tongue, when-

"Take care of your stuff. Other people shouldn't pick it for you." and with that, Jaemin goes back inside. 

Mark rolls his eyes, muttering a quiet "Asshole" as he heads towards Yuta's car.

* * *

_**  
*kkt -** short way to say KakaoTalk (a korean messaging app)_

_***Other Twix -** _ _Twix chocolate comes in two twin bars in a package. This phrase is said in a form of endearment.  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the sudden disappearance, but next chapter will be up every week! If you want to talk to me or ask any questions over at twiter, my handle is **@neobranded**  
>  \- yaru


End file.
